Improvement in restaurant check-boxes



' z Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. M. PUT'NAM. RESTAURANT CHECK-BOX.

Patented Feb. 1, 1876 No.17Z,89Z.

l' @457 I/QZXC/W I N. PETERS. PHOTOUTHDGR Z SheetP-Shet z. A. M. PUTNAM.'

K RESTAURANT CHECK-BOX. No.172,89.Z. 1 Patented Feb. 1,1876.

Ill-Ill N. PETERS, FNOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED. STAT-Es PATENT; cam;

ALBERT M. PUTNAM, OF PETEBBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

' IMPROVEMENT l N RESTAURANT CHECK-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,892, dated February 1, 1876; application filed July 16, 1875. v

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT- M. PUTNAM, of Peterbo rough, inthe county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented an' Improved Check-Receiver for use in restaurants, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part of this specification, in. which Figure l is a perspective "iew of my said apparatus. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the interior of the front of the same. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the checks I employ.

To provide a simple and reliable means 0 preventing the'pilfering of moneys received at restaurants for meals or at bar-rooms is the object of my present inventiomwhich consists ina box or casing having a drawer sliding therein,or otherreceptacle, and provided with a check-receiver, within which the checks, as they are successively entered, are held by a dog or retainer-in a position exposed to view through an opening in the box, one check remaining in sight till the receiver is depressed to allow of the entrance of the next one, when the first check is pressed down thereby and deposited in the drawer or receptacle underneath, the depression of the receiver causing abell to be struck or an alarm to be given, which indicates to any one present thatthe check has been properly deposited, each check and the receiver being so constructed that afterthe former has been placed therein it cannot be removed without unlocking the checkdrawer, which can only be done by. the party authorized to keep the key, the aggregate sum indicated by the figures on the cheeks showing the exact amount of money-taken, which consequently should correspond with the amount contained in the ordinary moneydrawer.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawing, A is a closedbox to be placed on the counter of a restaurant or barroom for the purpose 'of receiving and exhibiting thechecks B, with the figures thereon indicatin g the cost of the meal or other article obtained by the customer. 0n theinsideof the front of the box are secured two parallel metallic strips, to a, which serve as guides or ways for a check-receiver, G, to slide in, this receiver consisting of a thin flat tube, b, open at its top and bottom for the entrance of, the check B and its passage down into a drawer, D, which slides in and out of the bottom of the box A, and is locked, the key being kept by the proprietor.

The back of the receiving-tube b is carried down and terminates in two bifurcations, cc,

to thelower end of one of which is secured one end of a spiral spring, d, the other end of the spring being fastened to a transverse rod, E,

the ends of which are secured in lugs e 0 pro-- jectin g from the inside of the front of the box,

by which construction the receiver is immediately raised after being depressed to carry down a check to be exposed to view through a circular glass-covered opening or window, h,

formed near the top of the front of the box. Pivoted to the rod E, in line with the space between the bifurcations c c, is a dog or pawl, G, the point or lower end. of which is pressed against the back of the check B by a spring, i, wound spirally around the rod E, a flat spring, 70, hearing against the front of the check, so as to retain it in place after being carried down by the receiver, each check being provided with a notch, slot, or depression, 1, into which the end of the pawl fits, whereby theabstract-ion of the check after being entered within the receiver isrendered impossible. The lower end of the bifurcation c is provided' with a bent arm or projection, m, which, as the receiver is depressed to carry down a newly-entered check, comes in contact with a projecting arm secured to a large spiral spring, a, coiled around a circular stud, 19, extending out from the inside of the front of the box, and having a striker, r, secured to its outer end, by which construction a bell or gong, H, is struck, which gives notice to any one interested that the check last received has been properly accounted for.

Operation: When the clerk at the counter receives the amount due, as indicated by the figures on the check, he places the money in the ordinary money-drawer, and enters the check in the aperture at the top of the receiver. The

check is then pressed down therein, after which the receiver is depressed, and. the check is retained by the springpawl G and flat spring 70 in a position to be seen through the window in the front'of the box, simultaneously with which the alarm is sounded to notify any one interested that a check has been received, its value made known, and the money corresponding thereto duly paid by the customer who has taken his meal or received any article of the value of the check presented by him. When the next check is introduced, and the receiver depressed, the check last entered presses down the check previously exposed to view so as to cause it to drop into the drawer underneath.

When it is desired to ascertain if all the receipts have been honestly accounted for, it is only necessary for the person in charge of the key of the drawer of the check-receiver G to unlock it and count the figures on the checks, and then see if the amount of money in the ordinary cash-drawer corresponds thereto.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isa 1. The sliding check-receiver 0, spring d, pawl G,'a nd alarm mechanism, in combination with the box A, having a drawer or receptacle, D, and opening h, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. I also claim the sliding check-receiver O, for the reception of the notched or slotted checks B, in combination with the pawl G and fiat spring is, for holding them in a position exposed to view, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth. I

Witness my hand. this 13th day of July, 1875.

A. M. 'PUTNAM.

In presence of- N. W. STEARNS, W. J. CAMBRIDGE. 

